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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. GADD.

GAS HOLDER. No. 405,701. Patented June 25, 1889.

FIG. I.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. GADD.

GAS HOLDER.

No. 405,701. Patented'June 25, 1889.

F'|c:.z. FIG-.3. F'|c.4.

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Smut flaw. Q "W UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIALWI GADD, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

GAS-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .Patent No. 405,701, dated June 25, 1889.

Application filed August 28, 1888. Serial No. 284,024. (No model.) Patented in England October 6, 1887, No. 13,621, and in Luxemburg August 13, 1888,1l0. 1,017

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM GADD,a subj ect of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Manchester, England, have invented new and useful Improvements relating to the Construction of Gas-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to the construction of gas-holders, and have for their object the supporting of the same in their working position in such a manner as to enable the external or upper guide-framin g hitherto employed for that purpose to be dispensed with, and yet to give the requisite stability, although such or a modified form of framing maybe employed in connection with the improvements herein described when desired. To accomplish this and to eifect my improvements, I form the in terior of the tank or well in which a holder for the containing of gas is allowed to rise and fall in a special and peculiar manner that is to say, affixed to or let into the face of the tank or well aforesaid or forming part.

thereof, or in recesses therein for the purpose, and extending from top to bottom thereof, or thereabout, are rails of metal or other suitable substance; or it may be recesses or grooves, which are formed in the shape of quick helices or spirals or curved inclines, and, by preference, making in their total length one quarter-turn of the circle when the holder employed is very high and telescopic; but a quicker or slower helix or spiral or incline may be adopted, according to the circumstances and design of the same, and which will be determined by the angle of inclination adopted, forty-five degrees and sixty degrees from the horizontal being examples of working angles but other angles may be employed. Arranged at intervals around the circumference of the holder, close to the bottom edge thereof, or at such distance there from as is desirable, and. coinciding with or fitting onto the helical or spiral rails or curved inclines attached to or forming part of the tank aforesaid, are flanged or other wheels or anti-friction rollers of any suitable size or form, which are made to run loosely, by preference, and may be free to slide to a certain extent laterally upon their respective axles, to allow for expansion and contraction of the holder; or blocks or sliding pieces or equivalent devices may be employed in lieu of wheels or rollers, orboth may be combined, and the flanges maybe on either or both edges. As these flanged or other wheels, rollers, or blocks or equivalent devices rest and move upon the helical or spiral rails or curved inclines before mentioned-by preference both over and under or betweenit will be seen that as the holder becomes raised by being filled with a screw-like motion is imparted to it, thus causing it to partially turn as it rises, and, in similar manner, allowing it to fall by gravity as the volume of gas is reduced. The stability of the holder lies in the fact that it is constantly at all Working heights supported at its base or lower edge or ring, and'thus presents a position of firm resistance to windpressure and other lateral strains under conditions somewhat similar to that of a holder placed upon the ground upon its lower edge or rim.

The flanged or other wheels, rollers, sliding blocks, or equivalent devices may either be fixed tangentially with the side of the holder, and. so run upon the top, or top and bottom, surfaces of the rails, or may be arranged radially' with the holder, but at the angle of spiral; or, and by preference, the two kinds may be combined and the rolling-surface of the rails adapted thereto or in any other suitable manner, and'the rollers or sliding pieces, or equivalent devices, when placed. tangentially, may be employed above and beneath the rails alternately or in couples, or otherwise, the rails being constructed in double line or double headed or faced for the purpose.

The improvements are also applicable to telescopic gas-holders by employing similar helical or spiral rails, curved inclines, or grooves within and attached to the lower or outer lift or lifts thereof, upon or within which the rollers or equivalent devices attached to the inner lift may work or move.

That the invention may be better under stood, I will, by the aid of the accompanying drawings, proceed more fully to describe means employed in carrying out the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation with half-plan of a gas-holder in sin gle lift raised to about its full height, and with the tank or well shown in section, of one arrangement in accordance with my invention; and Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 show examples of some variations of detail in application of the method described.

The same letters indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur. I

a a is the holder; 1) b, the tank or well within which the holder rises and falls, riding on the helical, spiral, or inclined rails or surfaces 6 e.

c c are the tangential and d d the angled radial rollers, which in Fig. 1 are shown arranged separately from and alternately with the tangential rollers c c, and may by such arrangement either roll on the face of the tank or well or upon plates or rails placed at the required angle or spiral thereon; but the two kinds of rollers may be arranged together, as shown in Fig. 2, wherein the rail may be formed of channel or other iron, or other substance, havinga tangential roller on each side, with the angled radial'roller between; or the angled radial rollers may be dispensed with by employing flanges on the tangential rollers; or other means maybe employed for keeping the holder centrally or the wheels thereof on the rails.

Although, in the interests of safety, I greatly prefer to employ either two sets of rollers one above and the other below the inclined or spiral railsor double rails with one or more sets of rollers between, in order to enable the same to securely grasp or to be grasped by the rails at various points around the edge of the holder,nevertheless it may be possible in some cases to dispense with the under set of rollers or the over set of rails, as the weight of the holder may be sufficient to cause the rollers to follow the inclines of the rails.

In Fig. 3 the two sets of rollers'are placed one below the other instead of in line, and one of them is shown flanged.

In Fig. 4 two rails to each roller are shown, or it may be an inclined recess in the tank or well face, by which variation the locking action or grasp is obtained by one set of rollers.

Figs. 5 and 6 show two forms of sliding blocks or pieces which may be employed in lieu of rollers and either in conjunction or not with the angled radial rollers.

To enable allowance to be made for imperfections in the construction of the helical, spiral, or inclined rails, or for the effects of expansion or contraction therein, the studs attached to the curb or ring of the holder carrying the tangential rollers may be arranged to have radial play within the central boss on which the rollers turn, as shown in Fig. '7, in which the tangential roller 0 0 turns on the boss 0 0, having formed therein the slot 0 0 for to enable the projection or stud a, attached to the ring of the holder, to pass through; or other devices for radial action may be employed. A similar arrangement is shown for the sliding pieces in Figs. 5 and 6.

Fig. 8 is a part section showing the application of the invention to a double-lift or telescopic holder, wherein the outer or lower lift is provided with rails in manner similar to the tank or well for the purpose of allowing the inner lift to rise and fall thereon. In like manner a third lift may be employed, or more. Further variations in detail may be made, such as the direction of the spiral,which may be either right or left handed, or both alternately.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent 1. In gas-holders, the combination of rollers or equivalent frictionpieces, affixed to the lower curb or ring of the bell, with spiral guides on or in the face of the well or tank, substantially as herein set forth.

2. In gas-holders, the combination of tangential rollers or equivalent friction-pieces, aiiixed to the lower curb or ring of the bell, with spiral guides on or in the face of the well or tank, substantially -as herein set forth.

3. In gas-holders, the combination of angled radial rollers or equivalent friction-pieces, affixed to the lower curb or ring of the bell, with spiral guides on or in the face of the well or tank, substantially as herein set forth. 9 5

4. I11 gas-holders, the combination of both angled radial rollers and tangential rollers, or their equivalent friction-pieces, affixed to the lower curb or ring of the bell, with spiral guides 011 or in the face of the well or tank, 1'00 substantially as herein set forth.

5. In telescopic gas-holders, the combination of rollers or equivalent friction-pieces, affixed to the lower curb or ring of an inner lift, with spiral guides on the inner face of an IO 5 outer lift, substantially as herein set forth.

. WILLIAM GADD. \Vitn ess es:

ARTHUR GADD, SAMUEL BALL. 

